In Germany, trains run on time, bus schedules are not just an elaborate ploy to make fun of gullible tourists and lucky Bayern always win matches in the dying minutes. Yes, normal service was finally resumed in the Bundesliga on Saturday: Karlsruhe's Wildpark saw the timely return of the "Bayern-Dusel", the perennial champion's mythical ability to bag maximum points with half-decent, instantly forgettable displays. Miroslav Klose scored the winner with three minutes to go to save Jürgen Klinsmann from another weekend of crisis talks and undignified "is he bound for the Spurs' job?" jokes. The Germany striker landed awkwardly after his celebratory flip-flop ("lack of practice" was the TV commentator's snide comment) and then was nearly crushed by his team-mates. It was only Klose's second goal in 15 games. But it was enough.

A visibly excited Uli Hoeneß later threatened to fire a reporter from the club's own TV station for asking him about the Bayern-Dusel. Admittedly it wasn't the smartest of opening questions; any viewer of post-match TV coverage knows that the interviewee must first be softened up with sycophantic drizzle before the mildly controversial stuff gets sneaked in at the very end. But Hoeneß' blatant over-reaction betrayed his anxiousness. "A defeat would have been fatal today," he admitted after cooling down a little, "and yes, we were a bit lucky."

The general manager's happiness, however, is dwarfed by this column's relief: with order in Bavaria restored, we can at last focus our attention on much more interesting matters. Bremen and Dortmund conspired to produce a 3-3 thriller, the umpteenth helter-skelter, ridiculously sublime as well as sublimely ridiculous goal-fest of the season. Both defences managed the impossible feat of appearing to be more overexposed than Salma Hayek in a Bavarian dirndl, and the final minutes of the match at the Weserstadion descended into a very fine mess of most un-Germanic goal-keeping howlers and excellent finishes. Claudio Pizarro's second was rightly hailed as "the perfect goal" by Franz Beckenbauer — the Peruvian took one touch to put the ball past Roman Weidenfeller and another one to squeeze it in from the cutest of angles. Bremen, like Bayern, remain rooted in mid-table no man's land while Martin Jol's Hamburg keep the top spot thanks to an entertaining 1-1 draw with Schalke.

But the real winners of match day eight were once again Ralf Rangnick's increasingly formidable new boys. On their own turf, Hannover 96 became the latest side who failed to hassle the Hoff on Saturday and were comprehensively dismantled by attacking football of the highest order — 5-2 to Hoffenheim was the final score-line. Only 5-2. "Please don't talk as quickly as Hoffenheim played today," was the Hannover press officer's request in the post-match briefing. He couldn't help but joke in the face of the visitor's superiority. "Hoffenheim were the best team we've played against this season", said 96 president Martin Kind. "They were better tactically, creatively and physically." They've now scored 21 goals, more than anyone else in the league.

"Shame they don't play in Europe," lamented even Bild am Sonntag, but they might not have to fret much longer. The way things are going for TSG Hoffenheim, they'll at least end up in the Uefa Cup, despite the protestations of manager Rangnick ("We're only looking to increase the distance to 16th place") and general manager Jan Schindelmeiser, who claimed they wouldn't start "dreaming about unrealistic aims". No one told Vedad Ibisevic, though. "Of course I'd like to win the championship," said the Bosnian after scoring another brace in the AWD Arena. The last promoted team to start this well were Kaiserslautern, 11 years ago. They ended up winning the league.

Ibisevic, top of the scorers list with nine goals, has become the first household name among Rangnick's gang of former misfits, nobodies and unknown unknowns. His is a veritable rags to riches story and testament to Hoffenheim's fantastic scouting skills. "A fairytale," he calls it. His family became refugees in the Balkan war and later emigrated to the US via Switzerland. Ibisevic played college soccer for Roosevelt High School in St Louis and was called up to the Bosnian U21s where he met Vahid Halilhodzic, then manager of PSG. Halilhodzic took him to the French capital but Ibisevic was soon loaned to Ligue 2 side Dijon where he, tata!, started cutting the mustard. Alemannia Aachen took a chance on him and were soon relegated. The step back proved a blessing. Ibisevic caught Rangnick's eye in the second division and was bought in 2007. Hoffenheim, backed by Dietmar Hopp's millions, made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

But while 1899 were charging through the Bundesliga 2 in 2007-08, Ibisevic mostly found himself on the bench. New, expensive signings such as the Senegalese Demba Ba and Nigerian Chinedu Obasi were starting ahead of him. "He had a very tough time," says Schindelmeiser. Instead of sulking on the bench, however, the French-speaking Ibisevic went out of his way to help Ba settle in Germany and they became good friends. "His attitude was incredible," remembers Rangnick. "He welcomed his rivals with open arms and brought everyone together. The team respects him very much for that." These days, the only players who need a consoling arm from Ibisevic around their shoulder are opposing defenders. There's talk of interest from the Premier League and Schindelmeiser concedes that the club could struggle to hold on to all of their stars in the next transfer windows.

Traditionalists in Germany might continue to sniff at the upstarts but cynical comparisons with Chelsea are as wide of the mark as Luca Toni's goal attempts these days. Hoffenheim's most expensive player, the injured Brazilian striker Wellington, cost €8m — in other words as much as Spurs "star" Kevin-Prince Boateng. Their success amounts to an indictment of the bigger club's scouting networks and coaching methods and it renders all those antiquated debates about the need for leadership players on German pitches utterly absurd. As Frankfurter Allgemeine noted, their system is the star. Their football doesn't need Effenberg-type figures balking orders. German football will soon understand that Hoffenheim are not a threat, but in fact the future. They show just how much can be achieved in our blessed Bundesliga with a little bit of money and many good ideas.